Chapter 33: Lü Bu Reappears

  Wearing a bronze mask, Qingyun walked silently all the way, and Gui Jiang Li Jin was also like this, only protecting Chu Mengmeng on both sides. Gong Sun Ce and Chu Mengmeng chatted freely along the way, dispelling many doubts in each other's minds, and the two gained a lot.

  In the small village, piles of dry firewood crackled and popped, and the iron pot on top of the firewood rack was boiling with broth, filling the air with a savory aroma. Guo Liang held his spear and surveyed the surroundings, he didn't think they could win this battle. He analyzed it for half a day and concluded that there were only three reasons why they could win this battle.

  Firstly, Cao Cao's army was severely damaged in the morning battle and its elite forces were annihilated, with its command system crippled. Secondly, An Meng's suggestion to reorganize the crossbowmen was very reasonable. Thirdly, the enemy's troops were extremely exhausted, even the soldiers at the bottom were exhausted, including the Li general who commanded the army.

  "They're back! They've returned!" A sea of people appeared not far from the village entrance, under the moonlight a black-and-white 'Qin' character seemed to be shining, very eye-catching.

  Guo Liang turned his head and shouted at the rooftop: "Aren't you coming down yet? He's back!"

  An Meng was shivering with cold, her voice firm: "I'll wait for him to come and pick me up, otherwise I'll freeze to death, I won't come down!" Her face was red and swollen, it was unclear whether it was from the cold or something else.

  "Ah Meng's luck isn't bad, just in time!" The aroma of meat wafting from the large pots at the village entrance made Gong Sun Ce swallow a mouthful of saliva.

  Chu Mengmeng, who was riding alongside him, gently fanned herself with a folding fan and said with her eyes narrowed in rapture: "It's been ages since I've smelled the aroma of meat. To be honest with you, Brother Gongsun, for several days in a row, I've only had flatbread and pickled vegetables to eat while rushing along the road. This time, I'm finally having a treat."

  Two people chatted and laughed, just dismounted at the village entrance. Liu Wei threw a big green apple to each of Gong Sun Ce and others, asking: "Have new friends again?" His eyes scanned back and forth on Chu Mengmeng's three people, especially paying attention to the one wearing a bronze mask with a green shirt.

  "You must be Liu Wei, Big Brother? Gong Sun Big Brother mentioned you on the road. We are all from the Three Kingdoms lineage, I'm Chu Mengmeng, and I've obtained the legacy of Ghost Path Guo Jia." Chu Mengmeng grabbed an apple, wiped it briefly with his sleeve, and took a big bite, sweet juice splashing everywhere.

  Liu Wei smiled and shook his head, saying: "You can't compare with me, my lineage is Xia Houlan. A figure that even those who have read the Three Kingdoms may not know. Hurry up and wash your face, dinner is more important!" Liu Wei found himself in a position that couldn't even compare to Du Yuanzheng, feeling very disappointed. Moreover, he didn't gain any credit from this battle, feeling very disheartened.

  "Dujiazidi has a problem, I don't know what they're whispering about today." Liu Wei said in a low voice while helping Gong Sunce pour water during washing. Gong Sunce cupped his hands to receive the water, paused for a moment, then splashed some on his face and scrubbed hard at the dirt. After finishing washing, he wiped his face and said in a melancholic tone: "Human hearts are never satisfied!"

  "My heart is not satisfied, so I will continue to fight and cut through thorns. Your heart is not satisfied, so you will follow me into the fire. The Du family's children have an unsatisfied heart, what makes them want to be satisfied? Yesterday, I had 200 riders with me, and our strength was evenly matched. Now I have 1,500 soldiers under my command, destroying them would be as easy as turning over my hand. Hehe, I think they will be satisfied!" Gong Sun Ce lit a cigarette, gazing at the Du family's children who were washing up together, saying indifferently.

  "You're stubborn, and that girl is still waiting for you on the rooftop. You have a bad temper, no matter how I advise you, you won't listen." Liu Wei said, puffing on a cigarette as he went to find Chu Mengmeng. Gong Sun Ce listened, smiled silently. He didn't expect An Meng to be so persistent, and after instructing Cheng Shen to arrange the patrol, he turned around to look for An Meng.

  In the village, he met Guo Liang, who was roasting with Li Jing and others by a fire heap on the side of the road. Seeing him coming over, Guo Liang and others stood up one after another, and Guo Liang asked: "Brother, how is the battle going?" The others also looked at Gong Sun Ce.

  "Total victory, annihilated! Make this fire bigger, we'll eat together later." Gong Sun Ce said, patting Guo Liang's shoulder. Guo Liang, somewhat depressed, said: "Don't pat me again, even if you pat me more, it won't hurt me. My body is almost healed, you miscalculated."

  "I originally wanted to see your frowning face, but it's actually healed? It seems that I've also recovered?" Gong Sun Ce was being insincere, and only when he saw that Guo Liang's body had almost fully recovered did he remember that his own left leg didn't seem to hurt anymore. He immediately unwrapped the bandage on his left leg and found that the wound only had a faint pink scar.

  "Big Brother's wound is only one, and it will heal quickly. I have nine wounds all over my body, and now they are just scabs, the blood clots haven't fallen off yet. My body can do some light exercise, and I estimate that in three days at most, I'll be back to normal!" Guo Liang rolled up his sleeve, and Gong Sun Ce saw that the wound was covered with a dark red scab, which looked quite frightening.

  Farewell to Guo Liang, he came to the house where he was commanding the symbol soldiers at noon. A pair of bright eyes on the roof shone with a moon-like brilliance in the night. An Meng's slightly hoarse voice sounded: "Big brother, is that you?"

  "It's me, we won!" Gong Sun Ce looked up and said to An Meng with a smile: "Jump down, let's eat and go! Today I also met two interesting people, let me introduce you!"

  "I'm coming!" An Meng looked at Gong Sun Ce, seeing that the roof was more than four meters away from the ground. In the dark night, he couldn't see clearly and felt a little fearful in his heart. After An Meng finished speaking, he saw Gong Sun Ce open his arms, close his eyes without thinking, and jump off the house.

  Gongsun Ce stretched out his arms to catch An Meng, but misjudged her weight. His arm almost got dislocated and he was knocked off balance by the momentum of An Meng's fall. However, he quickly reacted and managed to stop himself from falling with a strange pose on top of An Meng. After holding his breath for a moment, Gongsun Ce slowly said: "You're so heavy!"

  An Meng rolled her eyes, stood up and brushed off the dust on her body, saying with a helpless expression: "Big brother, you're a general, not a scholar who can't even truss a chicken. If you can't catch it, then don't make excuses!" Gong Sun Ce's face turned red in the dark night, he had not only misjudged An Meng's weight but also miscalculated her falling speed.

  "Right, didn't you say that if we win this battle, I'll be the one to get the first merit? But I don't need the first merit, how about giving me something else instead?" An Meng had her hands behind her back, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, looking very expectant. Gong Sun Ce discovered that An Meng actually had a shallow dimple, which made her look even more beautiful.

  "Big brother now has only two things that are his own, the Qinglong spear is a heirloom treasure, you can't use it even if I give it to you. Here, take this instead, its shape is similar to our family's heirloom. With the scabbard, it weighs just over five catties, very suitable for your ladies to use." Gong Sun Ce patted his armor, making a clanging sound. He really was poor, but he still had something to give as a gift.

  He untied the goose feather knife at his waist, pulled out a knife and stuffed the scabbard into An Meng's hand. Gong Sun Ce gently stroked the blade, with a somewhat nostalgic tone: "Often treating it as that one at home, it feels like having family by your side when holding that knife. From now on, whoever bullies you, just use this knife to chop him off!"

  She inserted the knife into its scabbard, weighed it lightly in her hand, and found it quite suitable. Looking at Gong Sun Ce, she didn't speak for a long time before saying: "I can protect myself, if one day Big Brother doesn't want me anymore, I'll return this knife to Big Brother." Gong Sun Ce saw her resolute expression and knew she was forcing him, so he let out a helpless sigh and took An Meng to eat.

  Gongsun Ce is a ruthless person, he can ignore the life and death of anything outside of himself with a clear conscience. If something enters his line of sight, unless it has harmed him first, he will not give up on it. For example, An Meng, he has a good impression, seemingly from the depths of his soul there is a layer of good feelings.

  An Meng's persistence reminded him of his own past. He had also done many foolish things for the girl he used to think about day and night, and he didn't want to hurt An Meng just as she didn't want to hurt him. He, An Meng, and his her were all the same kind of people - meticulous about human nature but completely indifferent to those outside their circle of concern.

  At night, Gong Sun Ce ate his fill, drank enough, took a hot bath and slept soundly. In his dream, he appeared in the starry sky of consciousness, only to find that another huge change had taken place here. Under his feet was a vast expanse of land, with a small lake about three or four mu in size in the center. What's more strange is that all around the land under his feet was water, countless waters, seemingly endless waters.

  He seemed to appear on a deserted island, if not for the North Dipper rotating above his head and that fiery ball burning fiercely. Everything around him was like a deserted island in the sea. Looking around again, the grass was knee-deep, and the goddess Daji was nowhere to be seen, even the little horse Chitu seemed to have hidden itself.

  "Good job, kid!" A very proud voice echoed all around. Gongsun Zan subconsciously looked up and saw a black dot getting bigger and bigger, hurriedly dodged to the side, then saw Lü Bu wearing a Western Shu red brocade hundred-flower battle robe, holding a Fang Tian painting halberd, riding on Red Hare horse, lightly floating down to the ground.

  "Lü Bu?" Gong Sun Ce was surprised, he didn't know what Lü Bu wanted from him. The basic heritage that Lü Bu had given him, he hadn't fully grasped yet, and to ask for further heritage would be purely awkward on his own part.

  "Lü Bu?" Lü Bu imitated Gongsun Zan's tone, stroking his chin. Red Hare knelt down on the ground. Lü Bu walked up to Gongsun Zan and bowed his head, thinking for a moment before asking again: "Lü Bu? Are you sure I'm Lü Bu?"

  Gongsun Zan was confused after hearing Lü Bu's words. You're not Lü Bu, then who is Lü Bu? Only to hear Lü Bu frowning and saying: "I am Lü Bu, but I'm not Lü Bu either. It wasn't until I came here and asked her that I roughly knew who I was."

  Diao Chan said, "There are two true forms of Lü Bu. One is the genuine Lü Bu, the War God version of Lü Bu, who is obsessed with martial arts and doesn't care about worldly affairs. And this one is another true form of Lü Bu, the Unmatched version of Lü Bu, who believes in his own divinity!"

  "That's right, I'm just Lü Bu condensed from the will of all living beings. I'll go and take down that War God version of me. Before I leave, I thought you're also one of my successors, can't let you die too early." Lü Bu said, taking out over a dozen pearls and scattering them in one throw, the pearls flew towards Gongsun Zan, some of them hovering in mid-air, quietly floating between Lü Bu and Gongsun Zan, struggling left and right.

  "Hao Meng, I gave you a chance, but you still don't know what's good for you." Lü Bu stared at a thumb-sized blue bead and said in a cold voice. The bead trembled even more violently upon hearing Lü Bu's words, wanting to fly upwards. Lü Bu stretched out his arm, pinched the bead with one hand, and clenched his five fingers into a fist, continuously rubbing it.

  Gongsun Zan heard a man wailing, and Diaochan turned her back on him, covering her ears. Lü Bu sneered coldly: "You won't listen to me? Then go die!" In response, there were even more mournful cries.

  Gongsun Zan saw Lü Bu's outstretched palm constantly rubbing, countless dust falling to the ground, merging into the earth beneath his feet. He suddenly found that the land under his feet began to grow at a visible rate, until that mournful cry stopped, he discovered that this piece of land had expanded by tens of times, with a radius of about 400-500 meters, but the newly exposed land was still desolate.

  Lü Bu gazed at the other three beads floating between him and Gongsun Zan, saying calmly: "I am Lü Bu, Lü Bu is me. Your spirits are loyal to me, I can decide your fate! Hao Meng is a warning, accept your new fate!"

  The pearl that stayed between the two of them let out a sorrowful cry and threw itself onto Gong Sun Zan's back. The pearls continued to move around, and the strong ones grabbed one star point each, corresponding to the seven stars in the Big Dipper in the sky. Together with Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, and Huang Zhong who had transformed into pearls, they formed the Big Dipper Array.

  Gongsun Ce suddenly found that the light in front of him had increased greatly, and when he looked up, he saw that the seven stars on his head were shining brightly, comparable to a bright moon. Suddenly, he felt refreshed and clear-headed, and it seemed like there was something mysterious added to his consciousness, but he didn't know what it was.

  Lü Bu took a deep breath of the starlight, and the starlight condensed into an air current that entered through his nostrils. Lü Bu closed his eyes to savor it for a moment, then slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and asked: "Young one, do you know what those pearls are?"